Transgender Drama ‘20,000 Species of Bees’ Leads Spain’s Goya Awards With 15 Nominations

Spanish director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s debut feature, 20,000 Species of Bees, a touching and tender drama about an 8-year-old transgender child who begins to transition, is the frontrunner for the 2024 Goya Awards, the Spanish film academy’s equivalent to the Oscars.

The film, which won its young star Sofía Otero the Silver Bear for best performance in Berlin in February, picked up 15 nominations for the 2024 Goyas, including for best film and best director. Otero was oddly snubbed in the acting categories, though co-stars Ane Gabarain and Itziar Lazkano were nominated in the best supporting actress category, Martxelo Rubio received a best supporting actor nom, and Patricia López Arnaiz a Goya nomination for best actress.

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In its review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter called 20,000 Species of Bees a “moving chronicle of an 8-year-old’s gradual transitioning, and the effect it has on a family over their summer vacation [which] manages to be both timely and timeless, making its hot-button issue feel like part of a larger, spiritual cycle of life and loss.”

The biggest movie, in terms of budget, to come out of Spain this year, J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow, picked up 13 Goya nominations, including for best picture and best director. The real-life thriller is a retelling of the fateful 1972 crash in the Andes of a charter flight from Uruguay and the harrowing ordeal of its survivors. A Netflix production, it is Spain’s official entry for the 2024 Oscars in the best international feature category.

Other Goya best film contenders include Close Your Eyes, a moving homage to the power of cinema from master Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice, his first film in more than 30 years. The movie, which premiered in Cannes, received 10 Goya nominations. Un Amor, a psychosexual drama from veteran director Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me, The Bookshop), picked up seven nominations, including for best film, while Saben aquell, David Trueba’s biopic of legendary Spanish comedian Eugenio, received 10 noms.

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